Comments on: Media discourse has it wrong on sexual violence: the Richmond gang rapehttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:11:39 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.7By: Jesshttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-815
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:55:35 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-815I am so sad to hear that this poor girl had to suffer at the hands of monsters. May they all get what they deserve (castration and rape themselves.)

Men have the same ability as women to know right from wrong. Men need to stop looking the other way and take a stand against all of this advertising, too, to declare that they are not the idiots advertisers take them for and that they do not drool over females who spend every ounce of spare time in a mirror as a rule.

]]>By: Jenniferhttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-814
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:31:23 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-814Bob — I was not offended by your comment. In fact, I think it adds a viewpoint that is not of the usual feminist rhetoric (of which I am usually a big fan). I see what you are saying: That though rape may be natural, in this case “natural” is not equated with “good”. We need to use our **humanity** to stop rape from occurring. We are not slaves to our instinct, which is what makes us humans.

BIOLOGY 6th Edition – Raven&Johnson’s ( very good book for beginners in biology )

Introducing Evolutionary Psychology – Dylan Evans and Oscar Zarate

Evolutionary Psychology, A New Paradigm – Buss, David M.

The Adapted Mind – Tooby & Cosmides

Evolutionary Biology of Rape – Thornhill et al

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male – Alfred Kinsey

My Secret Garden – Nancy Friday

I know that’s a lot of books. But, if you’re seriously interested in stopping rape, I invite you to at least look into each of them on amazon and decide if it’s something that might be helpful.

]]>By: Bobhttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-812
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:55:28 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-812I am certainly not trying to excuse the behavior. I’m just trying to see what the reality of the situation is because I want it to stop. In my opinion, any offense taken or implication of excuse making is entirely of your own creation.

I honestly don’t believe we humans have overcome our animal nature yet. I think the idea that we are civilized is a joke. Just look at all the countries(including the USA) involved in totally irrational wars of aggression and conquest, killing innocent people. We just use our intelligence to rationalize our irrational behavior.

I’m suggesting that a possible solution or preventive measure could be raising awareness of our animal nature. That way we can be on the look out for and notice the primal urges when they come up and have choice in the matter.

If you’re interested in science and psychology about this, I suggest the following books:

I think that sexual desire is still in our genes because reproduction will prolong the existence of our species. However, I would need to see some more data to believe that the desire to rape is implicit in our drive to reproduce.

Plus, I don’t think you can say that “gang rape” is common in other animals, because the concept of gang rape is unique to human sociology and can’t have a true parallel within other species.

I do think I understand where your coming from, and that you have good intentions, though I hope you realize that the way you phrased it is offensive to both men and women. It seems almost as though you are arguing that men should be excused from rape because it’s what they’re programmed to do, and also that they don’t have control of themselves or their actions.

Also, though your definition of “human nature” can be disputed, I would like to bring nurture into the argument. These rapists are not feral beings–they have been raised and socialized within American culture.

Therefore, I believe it is important to not only consider genetic predispositions to act in certain ways, but also the cultural influences on our judgment systems.

Are you implying that because wild chimpanzees engage in a behavior that humans are genetically programmed to do the same? That is a ridiculous claim. It sounds to me like you are trying to excuse disgusting and violent behavior. Why don’t you use your “intelligent faculties of mind” to learn some real science?

]]>By: Bobhttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-809
Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:26:34 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-809I’m in agreement that this is a horrific crime and problem. One perspective I’d like to add is that this sort of behavior is completely natural for our genetics. Gang rape is common in the wild among our closest relative, the chimpanzee. It’s proven to be a successful survival and replication strategy(in the evolutionary sense) and that’s why it’s still in our genes.

I think the more aware we are that this is in our nature and what we are capable of, the higher chance we have of using our intelligent brains to stop it. If we just try to repress it, it will happen unconsciously and on accident. If we own our destructive power, we must use it by choice, bringing accountability into the mix.

There’s no doubt that alcohol decreases our intelligent faculties of mind and let’s our more primitive brain take control. When people drink, they are making the choice to give up self control. There needs to be accountability for that as well.

]]>By: sabrinahttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-808
Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:26:05 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-808I agree with Kate–I don’t think that they news story suggested that the girl was at fault. I read the article and have also read a lot of similar articles detailing the crime, and my interpretation of each one was that the men deceived the girl, making her feel comfortable hanging out and drinking with them, or using peer pressure to get her to drink. Once she was in a drunken state, it was easier for them to take advantage of her, though some articles that I read mentioned that she did still attempt to fight back.

I honestly never looked at this news story as being problematic because of the mention of alcohol. It seemed to me that the general consensus in the stories I read was that this was a horrendous crime, and while the girl might have been naive, she was certainly not to blame.

I do agree that our culture tends to blame girls for being drunk while they are raped, but I think that this case was so extreme, that the thought never crossed my mind that people would blame her.

I think that this problem exists much more in date rape cases, which usually go unreported because girls and women fear that they will be blamed. In many cases, they still are.

]]>By: katehttp://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-807
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:07:57 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-807In horrific situations like this, I think it’s completely appropriate for news organizations–that strive to maitnain that ultimately unachievable “objectivity” in reporting–to use harsher, more vivid language to convey the horrificness of the events. I think the AP was doing its “job” in reporting that she had been drinking–you have to convey the facts of the story. And I don’t think we should necesarily jump on the news outlet right away for spreading the idea that a woman is at fault when she is raped or that she could have prevented it. However, I DO think that newspapers and journalists should have the liberty to go outside the “objective” box and let their readers know what rape is really all about and emphasize the nightmarish atrocity that happened that night.
]]>By: E.C.W.http://www.about-face.org/media-discourse-has-it-wrong-on-sexual-violence-the-richmond-gang-rape/#comment-806
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:51:09 +0000http://about-face.org/blog/?p=2323#comment-806While I am against underage drinking, I agree that it is an entirely separate problem from gang rape. This is a horrifying incident, showing how voyeuristic, jaded, and antisocial our society has become. Thank you for reporting on it so well!

Also, the original artical made a grammatical error. It should say “had drunk”; “had drank” is incorrect.